explaining_errors_in_star_trekfandomcom-20200215-history
Observer Effect
'' |image= |series= |production=40358-087 (411) |producer(s)= |story= |script=Judith Reeves-Stevens and Garfield Reeves-Stevens |director=Mike Vejar |imdbref=tt0765592 |guests= |previous_production=Daedalus |next_production=Babel One |episode=ENT S04E11 |airdate=21 January 2005 |previous_release=Daedalus |next_release=Babel One |story_date(s)=2154 |previous_story=Daedalus |next_story=Babel One }} =Summary= Lieutenant Reed and Ensign Mayweather play chess while serving as hosts to non-corporeal aliens. Returning from an away mission on the planet below, Commander Tucker and Ensign Sato soon exhibit symptoms of a strange disease. Upon examination by Doctor Phlox, it is found to be a highly contagious silicon-based virus, and Captain Archer explains that Commander T'Pol and Phlox are seeking a cure. To pass the time, while isolated in Decontamination, the two try to learn more about each other. The aliens take a keen interest examining the human response to this crisis, and compare notes to previous reactions by Klingons and Cardassians. They are members of an advanced species looking to make "first contact". So far, based on 10,000 years of observations, no species has been deemed ready. Seeking a different view of the crew, they temporarily shift to the bodies of Phlox, T'Pol, and Archer. A difference in opinion between the two aliens starts to form: one seems determined to maintain their non-interference protocol, while the other feels the protocol is outdated and unnecessary. With time running out, Phlox and T'Pol find a way to disrupt the virus using deadly levels of radiation. Archer and Phlox, while wearing environmental suits, escort Tucker and Sato to Sickbay for treatment. Sato soon goes into cardiac-arrest, and Archer removes his gloves and helmet to assist her, but she cannot be resuscitated. They then administer a dose of radiation to Tucker, but that too is ineffective. Phlox then leaves to resume work from the Bridge. Suddenly, Tucker and Sato are reanimated by the aliens, who, while possessing the crewmen, explain the situation to a surprised Archer, who then makes an impassioned speech on behalf of his crew. The aliens decide to modify their procedures, choosing to resurrect and cure the infected crew members, when they previously would have left them to die. The aliens erase the encounter from the crew's memory. Archer orders a warning beacon to be placed above the planet, and the aliens leave to begin planning first contact with more advanced humans at a later time. =Errors and Explanations= Nit Central # dotter31 on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 7:04 pm: Why is there ANY type of unlocking mechanism INSIDE the decon chamber? Wouldn't this be like locking a criminal in a prison cell with a set of keys in the cell with him/her? This would seem to be a design flaw. ' ''LUIGI NOVI on Saturday, January 22, 2005 - 4:59 pm: It’s an emergency contingency, say, if you’re in Decon, and the Ferengi have released a knockout gas that renders the rest of the crew unconscious?' # Why didn't they transport Hoshi and Trip from decon directly to sickbay? Are transporters not sophisticated enough to do a site-to-site transport yet? (It didn't even occur to them to try, however) 'ScottN on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 7:21 pm: As far as I know, site-to-site transport was not possible even with TOS era transporters. Chris Todaro on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 7:35 pm: It was possible, but considered very dangerous (See "Day of the Dove") ScottN on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 7:56 pm: No, that was intraship beaming (at warp, no less). They still had to go from the transporter room.LUIGI NOVI on Saturday, January 22, 2005 - 4:59 pm: But if the transporter pad had an isolation screen, they would’ve have had to do site-to-site. They could’ve used the pad without risking infection of whatever Deck it’s on. (I think I pointed out that the transporter should have an isolation screen in a prior episode too.)' # ''The Undesirable Element on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 10:28 pm: Archer is beginning to suffer from Janeway syndrome, otherwise known as the "This is a controversial decision, but any disagreement in my decision will be seen as treason" syndrome. Janeway did it all the time, and now Archer's picking up the habit. However, while Janeway was able to loosen up from time to time, Archer seems to have a perpetual stick up his a$$. I realize some sort of authority must be maintained on a military vessel, but he just won't listen to anybody.LUIGI NOVI on Saturday, January 22, 2005 - 4:59 pm: Where did he do this? Chris Booton (Cbooton) on Saturday, January 22, 2005 - 6:04 pm: When they realised the suits fingers were too bulky, Archer insisted he be the one to take off the gloves and thus contaminating himself. He said that the ships needs a CMO.LUIGI NOVI on Saturday, January 22, 2005 - 10:12 pm: What does this have to do with disagreement being seen as treason, or not listening to anyone? He made a command decision, which is his responsibility. And he didn’t say that the ship needs a CMO. He said that the ship needs its CMO right now more than the captain, because of the infection, and he said this when Phlox said the suits were impeding his use of the surgical tools, and was about to take off his own suit. Archer only made the decision to do so himself and be Phlox’s hands when he saw that his CMO couldn’t do his job. The Undesirable Element on Sunday, January 23, 2005 - 11:37 am: As mentioned above, Archer's insistence that Phlox allow him to remove his gloves. It's not so much what he said but how he said it. He seemed downright angry that Phlox would question his decision. But this was certainly a mild case of this syndrome. Episodes like The Breach or Daedalus demonstrate the syndrome more clearly.LUIGI NOVI on Sunday, January 23, 2005 - 10:48 pm: No, he did not seem angry. Their voices and facial expressions were intensified by the emergency nature of the situation, and when Phlox refused, Archer insisted, giving the reason that right now the crew needed its doctor more than its captain, but that was it. There was no anger, let alone any indication that he resented Phlox for merely questioning him. # Did anyone else find it intriguing that Poker is banned at Starfleet Academy given how often the crew of the Enterprise-D played that game? Of course, once Kirk started teaching "CAPTAINCY 101: CONTRACEPTIVES IN FIRST CONTACT MISSIONS," the poker rules probably seemed a little unnecessary.LUIGI NOVI on Saturday, January 22, 2005 - 4:59 pm: They didn’t say poker was banned, only that gambling was. Playing without money but abstract chips, as on TNG, probably wasn’t frowned upon. # Anonymous on Saturday, January 22, 2005 - 12:24 am: Personally, I think it was a cop out for Hoshi to be brought back. Trip I could see, as he was just barely dead, but she'd been gone for a while. (Now I'll just wait for all the Hoshi fanatics with the torches and pitchforks to come after me…) LUIGI NOVI on Saturday, January 22, 2005 - 4:59 pm: People have been brought back from clinical death after several minutes today. Why not in the 22nd century with non-corporeal aliens who can rearrange matter on a level that allows them to modify memory? # LUIGI NOVI on Saturday, January 22, 2005 - 2:08 am: Trip tells Hoshi in Act 2 that when was 24 or 25, he removed all the screws in the dining room table, causing it to collapse when his father placed the turkey on it, and that he spent the next month in his room. Was this is a joke? Or did Trip still receive punishments from his parents at age 24? Darth Sarcasm on Monday, January 24, 2005 - 1:43 pm: He didn't say he was punished (though that is a logical inference). He could also have been trying to avoid his father as much as possible. # Clint X on Saturday, January 22, 2005 - 8:51 am: It's been 10,000 years and 800 species have been here, yet Archer is the first to think of leaving a warning beacon? That seems a bit unlikely. dotter31 on Saturday, January 22, 2005 - 2:38 pm: Regarding why no one has left a warning beacon before Archer, perhaps others have, they were just removed by the Organians (and they also erased the memory of having left one) LUIGI NOVI on Saturday, January 22, 2005 - 4:59 pm: I doubt it, because when Archer said they would leave the buoy, the Reed Organian complained that they would no longer be able to study how aliens react to this virus, indicating that they will not interfere with the humans’ decision to leave the buoy. # Keith Alan Morgan on Saturday, January 22, 2005 - 9:25 am: Trip says, "Feel like I've been gut punched by a Tellarite." How would he know what this is like? LUIGI NOVI on Saturday, January 22, 2005 - 4:59 pm: Someone could say that a bout of nausea felt like being gut punched by Mike Tyson, even though they’ve never the guy. # Why did the Organians need to possess host bodies? Couldn't they just float invisibly? Why did they need to possess Trip & Hoshi to talk privately? Couldn't they just revert to their non-coporeal forms and communicate that way? LUIGI NOVI on Saturday, January 22, 2005 - 4:59 pm: Good point. The Trip Corpse Organian at the end indicated that showing compassion would allow them to understand and experience humanity very well, which may be an indication that experiencing the races they observe vicariously was part of their assignment. # Stone Cold Steven Of None on Saturday, January 22, 2005 - 11:02 am: All through the ep I was thinking: Shouldn't the crew have noticed their mates' odd behavior almost immediately? I mean, a game of chess played at warp five? I think _somebody_ would've noticed _that_. LUIGI NOVI on Saturday, January 22, 2005 - 4:59 pm: First of all, they weren’t at Warp 5. They weren’t even at Warp. They were orbiting planet on which the virus was contracted. Second, what does being at warp have to do with chess? With the artificial gravity the ship has, travelling at high speeds wouldn’t impede playing chess, any more than it would any other activity.TJFleming on Saturday, January 22, 2005 - 7:26 pm: I think Stone Cold was using "warp five" figuratively to describe the pace of the chess match. # Hans Thielman on Saturday, January 22, 2005 - 2:27 pm: The Organians acted more like Vians. Shouldn't Sickbay have specialized medical suits the personnel can wear instead of the space suits Archer and Phlox were in? LUIGI NOVI on Saturday, January 22, 2005 - 4:59 pm: I’d imagine the suits were made to multi-purpose for both uses. # Josh M on Sunday, January 23, 2005 - 1:01 pm: I did like their use of the mind manipulation for the preservation of continuity. Sometimes the creators don't do so well with this (ie Acquisition), but I think that it worked this time. LUIGI NOVI on Sunday, January 23, 2005 - 10:48 pm: In what way did they do this? By allowing them to leave the buoy in orbit, it would appear that they left Archer’s memory intact. Darth Sarcasm on Monday, January 24, 2005 - 1:43 pm: How so? Archer expresses as much surprise at Hoshi and Trip's recovery as T'Pol and Phlox. Granted, it could have been an act, but there's nothing to really indicate that. # roger on Monday, January 24, 2005 - 1:54 pm: What did the possessed crewmembers think was happening while their bodies were being possessed? Did their memories get erased? If they were, they'd notice holes in their memories. Josh M on Monday, January 24, 2005 - 4:46 pm: The Organians tell Phlox that they had the ability to create new memories for the possessed crewmembers. Category:Episodes Category:Enterprise